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Midlands House Walk
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What is worrying you?

Water where it shouldn't bePipes that might be oldA freeze is coming (AI picture)After a floodA smell you can't placeWho to call and what they needWhose water, town by townEvery picture on the walk

Stop 1 of 5 on the walk

Front yard: the meter, the shutoff and your pipe

In the front yard, water passes through a meter near the street and runs under the grass to your wall. In Columbia the meter is the city’s and the line after it is yours.1 On any other system, read the name on your bill and ask.

Updated , Midlands House Walk

Brick and stucco bungalow with a screened porch, a brick walk and a small lawn seen from the street
A bungalow in Melrose Heights, Columbia. Somewhere under a lawn like this one, a water line runs from the street to the wall.

Start here, on the sidewalk side, because this is where your water comes in. Most Columbia meters sit along the right of way in the front yard.1 Find the lid, then find the house shutoff, since the valve in the box usually isn’t yours to touch.2

Once you know those two spots, the rest gets simple. The dial tells you if there’s a leak, and the buried line between them is the stretch you pay to fix. Then walk on to the side of the house.

What to look at here

What's in the water meter box, and what isn't yoursFind your house shutoff before a pipe breaks AI pictureWho fixes the water line under your front yard? AI pictureCheck your water meter for a leak AI pictureLow water pressure: one tap or the whole house?

Where this comes from

  1. Columbia Water, New Customer Guide
  2. Who's On The Move, repost of a Columbia Water notice, January 2018
Next on the walkSide of the house